This project involves several tasks designed to take advantage of
(1) a very extensive air pollution monitoring system that is operating
..n the Chestnut Ridge.region of Western Pennsylvania and (2) -the very
well developed analytic dispersion models that have been previously
fine-tuned to this particular area.. The major task in this project is
to establish, through several distinct epidemiolopic approaches, health
data to be used to test hypotheses about relations of air pollution
exposures to morbidity and mortality rates in this region. Because
the air quality monitoring network involves no expense to this contract
this project affords a very cost-effective 6pportunity-for state-of-the-art
techniques to be used in both costly areas of air pollution and health
-effects data col1 ection. . The closely spaced network of monitors, plus
the dispersion modeling capabilities,.allow for the investigation- of
health impacts of. various pollutant gradients in neighboring geographic
areas, thus minimizing -the confounding effects of social, ethnic, and
economic factors. The pollutants that are monitored in this network
include total gaseous sulfur, sulfates, total suspended particulates,
NOx, NO, ozone/oxidants, and coefficient of haze. In addition to enabling
the simulation of exposure profiles between monitors, the air quality2
modeling, along with extensive source and background inventories, will
allow for upgrading the quality of the monitored data. as well as
simulating the exposure levels for about 25 additional air pollutants.
Another important goal of this project is to collect and test the many
available models for associating.health effects with air pollution, to
determine their predictive validity and their usefulness in the choice
and siting of future energy facilities
